Sports Writer, Newcastle Newspapers

Handover: Nathan Tinkler's Hunter Sports Group are relinquishing control of the Knights. Photo: Nic Walker

The battle for control of Newcastle’s NRL franchise took an intriguing turn on Friday when the NRL criticised the Knights Members Club for ‘‘holding up’’ a resolution to the impasse.

The NRL’s head of club services, Tony Crawford, said the governing body had reached agreement with Nathan Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group on terms that would ensure the Knights were financially secure, retained their colours and logo and continued to play in Newcastle.

But he blamed the members club, who have been the third party in negotiations that date back almost three months, for the 15-day hiatus since Tinkler announced announced that HSG would ‘‘have no further role in the Newcastle Knights’’ and would relinquish control ‘‘once all liabilities are paid’’.

“The deal we have put forward will secure the future of the Newcastle Knights and set them up as one of the financially strongest clubs in the NRL,” Crawford said in a statement.

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“It’s a great outcome for the club, the players and the fans – but it is being held up by the members club.

“The sooner we can finalise this deal the better it will be for everyone associated with the Newcastle Knights. “So it is disappointing that the members club continues to hold up the process.”

Crawford said the NRL would continue to keep discussions open with the parties.

Knights members club Nick Dan said he had been talking with NRL officials last night and was surprised that a statement had been released.

‘‘I’ve just been informed of the press release,’’ he said. ‘‘The NRL is still explaining the future set-up of the Knights to the members board.

‘‘The members board is hopeful with further clarification, which occurred just prior to the press release, that the negotiations, which have been continuing, will proceed in a positive way.’’

Dan had been hopeful earlier in the week that a resolution was imminent and HSG’s handover was on the verge of being rubber-stamped.

But last night he said: ‘‘After having common views and a common purpose for several weeks, there has been a divergence of views over the last week, which the members club believed would have a major impact on the future of the Knights. These have been discussed at length this evening and the members club believe there is a way of resolving any differences of opinion.’’

It is understood the members club have been trying to preserve what they regard as ‘‘heritage issues’’, in particular how many directors should be elected onto the board of the new Knights entity.

The NRL is understood to favour a seven-person board including a number of independent directors it appoints.

In a statement on the club website, Knights chief executive Matt Gidley said: ‘‘From our point of view, we just want the best possible outcome for the club and anyone who has a view that differs from this should not be involved in the process.

‘‘We continue to trust that the NRL will ensure we reach a resolution that achieves this objective as soon as possible.’’